Vibration energy harvesting has received considerable attention in the research community over the past decade.
Typical vibration harvesting systems are designed to be added on to existing host structures and capture ambient
vibration energy. An interesting application of vibration energy harvesting exists in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),
where a multifunctional approach, as opposed to the traditional method, is needed due to weight and aerodynamic
considerations. The authors propose a multifunctional design for energy harvesting in UAVs where the piezoelectric
harvesting device is integrated into the wing of a UAV and provides energy harvesting, energy storage, and load bearing
capability. The brittle piezoceramic layer of the harvester is a critical member in load bearing applications; therefore, it
is the goal of this research to investigate the bending strength of various common piezoceramic materials. Three-point
bend tests are carried out on several piezoelectric ceramics including monolithic piezoceramics PZT-5A and PZT-5H,
single crystal piezoelectric PMN-PZT, and commercially packaged QuickPack devices. Bending strength results are
reported and can be used as a design tool in the development of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting systems in
which the active device is subjected to bending loads.